Trying to get in touch with an employer, potential client or even a long lost friend can be quite tricky especially if you do not have a convenient way to reach them. Back then people could rely on the likes of Yellow or White Pages for phone numbers, but the advent of the Internet means email is now the number one way to contact anyone. Fortunately, with that (or unfortunately), there are some tactics you can follow in order to track down that email you need. Have a read on how you could find someone’s email.

How to Find Someone’s Email: 4 Most Effective Methods You Shouldn’t Miss

1

Dig Through Your Email Folders

If you had by any chance been contact the said person through your current email address or the old account you no longer use, you can easily look up for the emails with the “search” features common with emails service provider these days. Yahoo! Mail and Gmail, for example, have their “search” bar available at the top of the page.

Search for that someone’s name or domain. Avoid full name if possible since they are more specific and might remove that email you are looking for from the list. Break it down at a time to last name, first name and maybe a nickname.

The subject name should be considered too. For example, if you had done a science project together, searching for “science project” might result in something you would be interested in. If you are looking for a former employer, use a keyword that might strike that subject, such as “resume” or “candidate.”

2

Google Search Operators

For how to find someone’s email, using Google is always the necessary step. Essentially we are going to do a basic mining on Google using search operators to get the specific results you need. Give the following a try:

NAME email

NAME contact

“Firstname Lastname” email/contact (note that enclosed quotation marks will command Google to bring up the most relevant information on that particular name)

Site:Website.com NAME email (site:Website.com command Google to strict up their search onto that particular site)

Site:Website.com about

Site:Website.com contact

“NAME” (useful for not only finding contact information but other sites he might be involved in, the likes of social media and blogs)

There are plenty more operators that can help you pin down the contact you will need. For the most part, the ones mentioned above should pick up the majority you need.

In the same vein, if the person is active on Twitter, shooting the command “site:twitter.com/USERNAME email” should get you what you need to find effectively since the person would have revealed their email on Twitter in the first place. Or you could always direct message them and ask for their email personally.

3

Sleuthing Using Rapportive

LinkedIn’s Rapportive is an add-on for Gmail that will scan email addresses and provide any associated social profiles that use said email. So how are we going to use this program to search for someone’s email? We are going to have it verify any email address that you think is owned by that person.

Come up with different combinations of what might be that someone’s email. If her name is Susan Smith, for example, try [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc. You get the idea. Go to compose a new message and type those combinations you came up with in the “To” field. Now all you had to do is methodically scan and remove each email to narrow down to that probable address, guessing your way to the correct email, though note that this won’t work with someone that may have zero social media presence.

For similar tools on how to find someone’s email, you can visit the following link:

If All Else Fails

Email is not the only way to contact that person, but it is what everyone uses these days. You could always resort to an alternative, less direct method such as contacting them through their LinkedIn profile or direct messaging them on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. Strike up a conversation, be polite, then slowly lead up to asking for their contact information. This is arguably the best way to get hold of them, but you do have to socialize with them.

For the case of LinkedIn however, getting hold of that person’s personal email is so much better than having it potentially absorbed by the red tape of the company official email, never to see the light of the day again, but its far better than nothing.

Anyway, if you are persistent, dogged and have a little too much time on your hand, email hunting is a thrill that you are going to enjoy. It’s not demanding per say, but trial and error are the name of the game. Have fun with this little skill you just earned yourself.